Actress. The daughter of Jeanne Dufour and George De Camp who were both professional entertainers. Born Marie Thérèse De Camp, she was an Austrian-born English actress, singer, dancer and comic playwright on the stage. She was the wife of actor Charles Kemble whom she married on 2nd July 1806. Her first role in the English theatre was at age six, appearing as Cupid in Jean-Georges Noverre's ballet at the Opera House. Her father left her in England for Germany, where he died while she was still young; she picked up English by imitating what she heard, and played juvenile and small parts. While not taught any English, she was tutored in other subjects. She was said to be good-looking, intelligent and so industrious that "she was said to have almost lived much of her early life in Drury Lane Theatre". In 1782 she appeared in La Colombe by Madame de Genlis. She acted in The Nosegay on 14 June 1786 with James Harvey D'Egville in the presence of the royal family. As a lead actress she caught the public's imagination in 1792 at the Haymarket, in a version of the Beggar's Opera where the genders of the characters were changed. From 1806 she joined the Kembles at Covent Garden. She made her first appearance there on 1st October 1806, as Maria in the Citizen, and remained there the rest of her career. She played Lady Julia in ‘Personation,’ on 9th June 1819, after which she retired. A solitary reappearance was made at Covent Garden on the occasion of the début of her daughter Fanny Kemble as Juliet, on 5th October 1829, when her mother played Lady Capulet.
A full biography is given on Wikipedia and in the Dictionary of National Biography. 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 378–379.
A full biography is given on Wikipedia and in the Dictionary of National Biography. 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 378–379.
Actress. The daughter of Jeanne Dufour and George De Camp who were both professional entertainers. Born Marie Thérèse De Camp, she was an Austrian-born English actress, singer, dancer and comic playwright on the stage. She was the wife of actor Charles Kemble whom she married on 2nd July 1806. Her first role in the English theatre was at age six, appearing as Cupid in Jean-Georges Noverre's ballet at the Opera House. Her father left her in England for Germany, where he died while she was still young; she picked up English by imitating what she heard, and played juvenile and small parts. While not taught any English, she was tutored in other subjects. She was said to be good-looking, intelligent and so industrious that "she was said to have almost lived much of her early life in Drury Lane Theatre". In 1782 she appeared in La Colombe by Madame de Genlis. She acted in The Nosegay on 14 June 1786 with James Harvey D'Egville in the presence of the royal family. As a lead actress she caught the public's imagination in 1792 at the Haymarket, in a version of the Beggar's Opera where the genders of the characters were changed. From 1806 she joined the Kembles at Covent Garden. She made her first appearance there on 1st October 1806, as Maria in the Citizen, and remained there the rest of her career. She played Lady Julia in ‘Personation,’ on 9th June 1819, after which she retired. A solitary reappearance was made at Covent Garden on the occasion of the début of her daughter Fanny Kemble as Juliet, on 5th October 1829, when her mother played Lady Capulet.
A full biography is given on Wikipedia and in the Dictionary of National Biography. 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 378–379.
A full biography is given on Wikipedia and in the Dictionary of National Biography. 30. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 378–379.
Inscription
[ ]
are deposited the [ re ]
of
Marie Therese
wife of Charles Kemble
she departed this life
Sep [ ] 1838
aged [ ] years
Gravesite Details
Used as paving slab. Very worn in places. Some letters in [ ] sections can be made out and a deduction of probable words made, but missing numbers are completely worn away.
Family Members
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